Hope soccer stars will draw a crowd

The West Australian

Wednesday, 15 July 2009 1:03PM

Perth Glory owner Tony Sage is banking on a collection of stars drawing a big attendance at Members Equity Stadium tonight to convince him of pursuing pre-season matches against European giants Liverpool and AC Milan next year.

Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and former Liverpool star Robbie Fowler headline tonight's double bill packed with English Premier League quality as Fulham take on Glory, and Wolverhampton Wanderers face North Queensland Fury.

But after just 11,083 fans turned up to watch Wolves beat Glory 1-0 on Friday - some fans deterred by the $55 cost, others by the weather - Sage admitted he needed about 16,000 to fill the stands to convince him of pursing similar projects.

The mining entrepreneur has forked out about $2 million to host Wolves for an 11-day pre-season tour and lure to Perth Schwarzer's Fulham and Fowler's Fury.

Sage also rejected suggestions tickets had been too costly, pointing out about 14,000, including corporate sales, had been sold for tonight's double-header. General admission starts from $65.

"The thing that surprised me the other night was we had 12,500 pre-sales and only 11,083 turned up," he said. "And some people have said it's only a friendly game but these are professional players and they've got pride at heart."

A bumper crowd would convince Sage to sound out Premier League giants Liverpool and Italian powerhouse AC Milan about the possibility of coming to Perth next year.

"If there's the demand for this sort of game, I'll bring teams out every year," he said.

"If not, I won't and I'll just concentrate on the season."

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy and director John Gough have been delighted with the facilities at the WACA Ground and the treatment from Glory, and will take back to the Premier League a positive message about the benefits of using Perth as a training base.

"I would recommend it, yes," McCarthy said. "It's fabulous."

Tonight's matches will provide WA fans a rare chance to see Premier League stars such as Fulham's Andy Johnson and Danny Murphy up close, as well as Australia's No. 1 goalkeeper Schwarzer.

Glory's marquee signing Mile Sterjovski acknowledged the importance of tonight's match given that the A-League season kicks off for Perth on August 7.

"It's important to do well," Sterjovski said. "We've got a lot of new signings and it's going to take time to gel. But, at the same time, we have to try to get things right as soon as possible because the season is just around the corner."